


Old Friends, New Enemies

by SnowBlizzard



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Damian Wayne Has a Heart, Damian Wayne is Bad at Feelings, Damian Wayne is Robin, Damian's a fluffball, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Original Supervillain - Freeform, Tim Drake Has a Bad Time, Tim Drake Needs a Hug, Tim Drake is Red Robin, Tim Drake-centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 19:13:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29248578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnowBlizzard/pseuds/SnowBlizzard
Summary: Tim juggles life as Red Robin and a relationship with Damian, both which come at an impasse when he faces a new enemy: Chlor, a cunning young villain who uses her acrobatic skills and an array of harmful potions to harm her enemies.
Relationships: Tim Drake/Damian Wayne, Tim Drake/Original Female Character(s) (past)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 24





	1. A lot of coughing

**Author's Note:**

> I felt like making a villain, I'm not sure why, but I wanted to, so I did. Of course this is going to be more focused on Damian and Tim's relationship than anything, but I thought it was fun (: Though I would like to say that a lot of science in this is false, but some of it is true. Just don't the science in fanfiction, or at least my fanfiction, to heart. :3
> 
> This is also my first multiple chapter TimDami fanfic, so let's hope it goes well, although it may take me a bit of time to update it.
> 
> You can join my fanfiction discord server here: [Discord server](https://discord.gg/YwMzZ27).  
> Enjoy! <3

Tim's happy, content even. Maybe. He's fine is the thing, he does online courses during the day, goes on patrol at night or sometimes helps Batman out with a case before he sleeps. During the weekends he hangs with friends, sometimes Stephanie or Cassandra, other times Bart or some classmate who he finds funny. It's not like he's growing bored or anything, but he kind of wishes something would happen, some new supervillain who's dead set on Red Robin appear or- _something._

Not that many people really care for Red Robin, most talk about the current Robin or Nightwing or debate if Red Hood is on the good or bad side- but he's not complaining. Just a little wishful.

Tim regrets ever thinking that as he's going hand to hand with a masked villain he's never seen before. They're skilled- that much is obvious but it seems like they lack superpowers, only relying on their fighting and acrobatic abilities or what Tim has now learned they love to use; potions.

He doesn't know how many times he's choked tonight from the masked villain throwing down a vile that leaks gas, almost suffocating him. It's not until he radios Damian for help (which he absolutely despises that he has to do, but he knows Damian's free right now because he was waiting for Tim to be done) that the masked villain takes a short break.

Immediately a small sharp object is thrown straight into their shoulder, causing them to grip their now bleeding shoulder. A ruff voice then says, "until next time, Red Robin," before they're jumping down the roof and disappear. Tim stares after them, only looking away when Damian comes up beside him, clad in his Robin outfit. Who was that?"

Tim shakes his head, puts his bo staff away. "I don't know, some new villain. I'll need to inform the bat of this."

Damian crosses his arms, "I was wondering you did not arrive. I do not take kindly to being stood up."

Tim chuckles, "I know." He purses his lips, "do you think our reservation's still okay?"

Damian shakes his head, "no. I had already checked in when my boyfriend needed me to save him."

Tim scoffs, "I would've made it on my own, just… would have taken more time. I kinda had plans tonight."

Damian hums. "Wouldn't want you to miss out on these important plans…" 

Tim shakes his head, smiling. "Since we missed fancy reservations-"

"Take out and a movie?" Damian finishes his sentence, causing Tim to lift an eyebrow. "I know you better than you think, Red Robin."

They do end up eating takeout and watching a movie, some action movie Tim doesn't remember the name of. What he does remember however, is Damian cuddling up to him tightly as Tim informs Bruce of the new villain, who says he'll look into it.

Damian leaves later that night and Tim's bed feels extremely empty. They haven't told anyone that they're a couple, not even Stephanie- which Tim has on many occasions wanted to. Though Damian can get away with coming and going out of the manor, he can't get away with being gone for over a day as that would probably lead Bruce to come searching and Tim would rather avoid Bruce finding them cuddled up in bed together. 

The next morning Tim won't stop coughing. He can't go to his lectures in the state he's in, it's worse than any cough he's ever had, every small coughing fit making him gasp for air afterward. 

_Oh fuck-_

He's at the Batcave in the next 30 minutes, the Batcomputer examining the oxygen samples from his lungs as Tim coughs pathetically while waiting for the results. He can see Damian's, who came down as soon as he heard Tim was hurt, hands twitch at his sides, like he's desperate to touch Tim, to feel if he's alive or maybe to calm him. But if he suddenly acts affectionate to someone he's supposed to hate, Bruce would catch on.

The computer beeps with it's finalized results and Bruce relays the info. "It seems after your battle yesterday, you've inhaled an extraordinary amount of Chlorine."

"Chlorine?" Tim coughs, "isn't that what causes lung cancer?" Tim casts a short glance at Damian after he says this, Damian's mouth is in a thin line and it looks as if he's almost forcing himself not to react. 

"It can, yes. Though we can probably get it out of your system pretty quickly."

Tim coughs, "great," he gasps for air for a moment, only getting a small amount before the next attack takes over. Abandoning all sense of self-respect he almost begs with a please.

As soon as Bruce nods with the promise of clearing his lungs as soon as possible, Damian's by his side. He's not saying anything, but Tim doesn't mind. Damian's rubbing his back up and down and Tim knows he's concerned, worried, even if he refuses to show it. 

And to be honest, his throat is so dry it feels like sandpaper, scratching every surface until it feels like he can barely cough from how dry it gets. Damian's eyes grow wide as Tim starts choking on his coughs.

"Dehydration," he remarks second later, pulling a nearby water bottle to Tim's mouth giving him small drops in the short moments where he's not coughing and Tim's eternally thankful Damian's so sweet towards him. 

Tim coughs on the last drink, almost puking from the water trying to come up his lungs. He groans, having no idea coughs could be this embarrassing. 

Bruce returns pretty quick, helping clear his lungs on Chlorine but Tim feels physically weak (and the most pathetic he's felt for ages) after that, so he's advised to stay in the manor for now. 

He sneaks into Damian's room during the night, cuddling quietly until Damian talks. "I thought you were going to die."

He looks up at Damian from where he's laying on his chest, "I didn't." He says because he's unsure of what else to say, he and Damian don't talk about feelings a whole lot and even when they do it's just short confirmations. 

Damian refuses to look at him, only sighing. "You could have."

Tim's really unsure what to do, but he needs to say something. "I've gotten close to dying more times than I can count. It's gonna take more than a cough to take me out."

Damian bites his lip, looking as if he wants to say something else but keeps it to himself. 

Tim feels his heart crack, "Damian, don't worry okay? I'll be fine, here," he takes Damian's hand, pulling it to his neck where Damian can feel his pulse. "See? Normal."

For a moment Damian simply blinks, then his eyebrows furrow and he snatches his hand back, "I am _not_ worried." 

Tim blinks at him as Damian shuffles until he's being thrown off of him. He lands on besides Damian (who now has his back towards him) with a huff. 

Tim blinks, confused. "What?" He asks.

"Nothing," Damian responds, unusually gruff (towards Tim at least). 

He's irritated or frustrated at something and Tim's unsure what he did. He's also unsure if he should leave, stay or stay and cuddle up close to him from behind. He goes with the safe option on number two, letting Damian have his space but not leaving until he's asked to, which he never is. In the end Damian seems done with sulking, at least partly and cuddles up to him again though they don't talk until morning, but Tim's fine with that. 

The thing is, Damian isn't used to caring about another person in this way, and while he refuses to admit it, Tim knows he worries, just like Tim worries slightly when Damian's out there, fighting some criminal or meta-human. So Tim just has to be patient, let him experience the feelings he hasn't before, assure him that he's fine and probably, preferably stay alive too.

The staying alive task proves harder than need be as he finds himself fighting the villain he's come to refer to as Chlor for now. They jump around him effortlessly, avoiding every attack from his bo staff. "What do you want from me?" He finds himself asking while fending off an attack. 

This person sought him out during his patrol, they weren't even doing anything, just simply looking for Red Robin to take him out. His old wishes now seem ridiculous, because he' scared _shitless._ This extremely dangerous person is coming for him- not Batman, not anyone else but _him._ And Tim can't for the life of him understand why. 

"I am only doing business." They reply, voice less deep, almost that of a female.

"Who are you?" Tim then asks, throwing a custom made ninja star and only nearly missing when the masked villain jumps out of the way.

"Whatever nickname you decide to give me is fine, though I'd prefer something feminine." Tim charges at her, but she throws down a vial, shattering it as gas begins to slowly creep out. Tim coughs and uses his cape to hide his mouth as he throws his bo staff at her, missing by only half an inch, then there's a stab to his shoulder in the midst of the smoke. 

Tim falls to the ground, clutching the bleeding in his shoulders, the knife already taken out as the woman stands above him, looking down and almost whispering. "I'm sorry about this, like said, it's only business. I would suggest you crawl out of here, that vial was chlorine, so your eyes are gonna be burning any minute."

Tim stares up at her, spits her in the face as a last ditch effort. She stands up suddenly, wiping her face, "rude." She remarks before kicking him in the stomach, presumably for spitting at her, and once again jumps down the roof.

Tim feels his throat restricting, eyes burning and mouth struggling to cough, he reaches for his communication device, rasps out the secret code to send a signal of his location to the Batcave, along with an emergency broadcast. Then he passes out, which almost is a relief because breathing is getting harder and harder.

He wakes up with a gasp, immediately sitting up and coughing almost to the point where he pukes. "Fuck," he rasps, feeling how dry his mouth is. He's hooked up to an IV bag, probably with water. 

Alfred stands above him, "Master Tim, good morning."

Tim looks at him, everything feels blurry and the event of his fight with Chlor seems like it happened in mere seconds and not over the course of minutes. "What- what happened after?"

Alfred, professional as always answers with his usual tone, despite the matter, "Master Bruce traced your signal and found you bleeding out atop a roof in the city. Your lungs were full of chlorine and it seems like some of it may have gotten into your eyes as they were red and irritated. You were also stabbed and lost quite a bit of blood, we managed to stitch you up, though I would advise you to take it easy for a few more days."

Tim groans, taking the IV bag off and getting up, feeling the pain in his shoulder spike, almost to the point where he wants to lie down again, but there's somewhere else he wants to be- someone he wants to see. 

"I would not advise you to be up and moving so soon." Alfred says, although he doesn't stop Tim from getting up and getting out of the cave, using only his left hand, as he fears even moving his arm might make the pain in his shoulder unbearable. 

Tim knocks on Damian's door, the walk to his room having taken a bit more out of him than he'd be comfortable admitting. Damian huffs from the other side of the door, "Father, I have told you multiple times, I am fine and you do not need-" but then the door opens and Damian stills.

He feels Damian's eyes fly over his face down to his shoulder, properly bandaged. This is when Tim realises he doesn't have a shirt on, but it doesn't really matter. At least not with Damian.

But then Damian's kissing him, first kind of desperate, pulling Tim into his room with him, until the door closes and the kisses turn softer until they stop. "You are not allowed to fight them again. Not alone." Damian suddenly says and Tim blinks at him.

"What?" He questions, "you can't expect me not to fight back."

"I said not alone, not that you couldn't. I do not wish for you to be hurt again."

Tim scoffs, but lets it go, not wanting to argue when Damian's like this.

**-**

Tim enters the coffeeshop in an okay mood, he's been taking time off work because of his injury and mostly staying in bed healing (which involves a lot of cuddling with his cat and watching movies that Jason would have a field day making fun of him for). Damian's there too and it's his lunch break from courses, so they decided to meet up for coffee and a sandwich. 

That plan goes to shreds once Tim hears someone call out his name, he turns around in the booth he's sitting, looking for the source of the sound. Damian doesn't seem that pleased, but he never does when they're in public.

Suddenly a black-haired girl appears in front of them and Tim's eyes light up in recognition. "Lucy!" He exclaims, immediately making room for her next to him, not even sparing a thought to what Damian might think, which is selfish and wrong, he _knows._

"It's been forever, how have you been?" Lucy asks excitedly.

Tim smiles brightly, "I've been good, you know our old classmate Peter? I heard he-"

Damian fake coughs, bringing the attention to him, he looks extremely displeased, but Tim thinks he's the only one to notice. Damian's good at hiding his emotions, His mouth is turned into a way too fake smile, though his jaw is set, showing how he doesn't appreciate the interruption.

Lucy blinks, "who's this?" She asks Tim.

"This is my boyfriend, Damian. You'll have to excuse him, _somebody's_ easy to annoy." Damian glares at him and Lucy’s smile falls before she giggles. 

“How’d you end up with a grumpy old man?” Lucy basically hangs off his arms, blinking up into Tim’s oblivious blue eyes, although he does notice Damian quietly seethe. Though he ignores him, opting to answer the question.

"He's less grumpy and more… more irritable."

"I am sitting right here," Damian grumbles under his breath and Tim feels like a bit of a jackass. He's just about to apologize when Lucy turns to him, fluttering her hair a slight bit, though Tim's totally oblivious, something that makes Damian dig his nails deeper into his forearm with how hard he's crossing them. 

"You know Sara Elverson?"

Tim's attention is immediately dragged back to her at the mention of his friend, he nods. Out of the corner of his eye he can see Damian narrow his eyes in suspicion. He decides he'll hash… whatever it is that Damian's doing out with him later, right now, he's distracted.

"I heard she's got triplets now, with Jay Henderson? You know him? Or were you never cool enough to buy from the school's top dealer?" She giggles and Tim pretends to be shocked.

"Me? Not cool in college? Please." He clicks his tongue, "okay, yeah I wasn't cool enough." He admits, making Lucy laugh hard. 

Damian gives off a dissatisfied sound, standing up, "we should talk." He gives Lucy a glare. "In private." 

Lucy's laughter dies down into a frown and she sighs, petting Tim twice on the shoulder before standing up. "It was nice catching up with you," she leans down, whispers so only Tim can hear her, "you should get a better boyfriend… he's kind of a buzzkill." Then she's gone.

Tim's only slightly annoyed by that last comment, he'd never leave Damian. No matter how he is to others, he's the sweetest person Tim's ever met when they're alone.

Speaking of him being bad with others… "I do not like her."

Tim frowns at him, "why? She's just an old friend from high school and college."

Damian looks at him, just _looks._ Void of any emotion, though Tim knows that he’s feeling some kinda way, even if refuses to show it. “I do not care for people blatantly flirting with you.”

Tim frowns, okay, maybe they’d dated for a short while back in college, but she wasn’t _flirting_ with him. That’s just ridiculous, especially after he specified that Damian was his boyfriend. And even if she was (which she _wasn’t_ ) it should be obvious that he’s not interested in such a relationship. “Lucy is my friend Damian, it’s nice to catch up every once in a while. Not that you’d know.”

This causes Damian to huff and stand up, making Tim unsure if he’s started a fight between them. “I have a lecture to attend.”

Tim groans lowly to himself, unknowing what this will entail. He can only hope Damian’s not sour for days continuing this, because although he likes to pretend he’s this unfeeling being, Tim knows that Damian’s scared their relationship won’t last, even if he’s never explicitly said so. He sends him a quick ‘sorry’ text in case Damian’s actually extremely upset, which he doubts, but it’s not _impossible._

Damian answers three hours later while Tim is studying history, it’s a short ‘it is fine’ but it’s enough to let Tim know that they’re not fighting, which makes him smile. That is until he feels his pocket vibrate with news sightings of Chlor, possibly searching for him, or, well, Red Robin. His shoulder aches as he thinks if it’s worth it to go out and try to find her or not, or what she’ll do if he doesn’t come out.

Tim decides not to risk it, although he really wants to stay in bed with café jazz music in the background and keep studying. If his grades go to hell after this, he’s blaming Chlor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! There will be multiple parts, as said, but they may take a bit to make so be patient.  
> I really hope you enjoyed! I appreciate every single comment and all kudos <3


	2. How Is She Doing This?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoy! ^^
> 
> My discord is: CryingCake#0270 feel free to reach out! I love meeting new people.

"Red Robin, I've been looking for you." She says, simply, hands at her utility belt, ready to throw down a vial anytime.

Tim wants answers, "why me? Are you some kind of assassin?"

Chlor shrugged, "I guess you could say that." She threw down a vial and the roof exploded in a cloud of smoke, Tim used his cape to quickly cover his mouth. "Your little boy-toy's not here to save you his time?"

Tim almost growled, remembering what Damian had said about fighting Chlor on his own. He easily hid in her own smoke, popping up at times and trying to get a good hit down, have her at his mercy and find out why, why is she doing this?

He decides that maybe she'll answer, so he tries. "Why are you doing this?"

Somewhere in the mist she laughs, "I have told you before, it's business. If it eases your mind I don't plan on killing you… but I can't promise anything." 

Tim stays quiet, listening for her footsteps in the cloud of smoke. He coughs a little, but it seems to be just regular smoke and not some dangerous chemical that could potentially kill him. He gets a hard punch to the stomach, one that would've had him gasping for air had he not been trained for this. 

He hits her on her right leg with his bo staff, ready to knock her out if need be. But then she only grins up at him from her position on the roof floor. Another vial is thrown and this time Tim thinks it must've been some sort of drugs, or something of the sort, because next thing he knows, he's unconscious and Chlor has once again, gotten away. 

He's gonna need a gasmask for the next time he deals with her.

When he wakes up it's to rough, calloused hands shaking him awake. "Tim, c'mon. Tim, fucking wake up already."

Tim blinks, seeing black hair with a tiny white streak. "Jason?" He asks, blinking.

"In the flesh," he grins. "Found you decked out on the closed down cinema downtown during my rounds. Thought you might appreciate it if I brought you here."

Tim groans, stretching. His body is sore and he's unsure what made him pass out just like that, but it can't be good. "Where is here exactly?"

"Safehouse, didn't feel comfortable bringing you to one of mine, so it's one of the bat's old."

Tim snorts, "thanks." He's just about to get up and go home when he furrows his eyebrows, "do you have a gasmask?"

Jason raises an eyebrow, "many. Why?"

Tim groans, "I'm not gonna be able to beat her if she can just throw down some smoke and win." 

Jason hums, "sounds like a you problem. I'd like to keep my gas masks, thank you."

Tim snorts, "you're welcome." He then pursues his lips, "there's  _ nothing _ you'd want for one? One that's easy to jump and move around in?"

Jason cocks an eyebrow upward, "just buy one."

Tim groans,  _ again.  _ "Damian's… worried that I might hurt myself fighting with Chlor, so I want to keep it under the radar."

Jason grins, "and you don't think that the tabloids will report on Red Robin lying unconscious on a rooftop for half an hour?"

"I'm so screwed," Tim says, throwing his hands over his face and slowly dragging them down. 

Jason laughs at him, "if it makes you feel any better, I think I do have a mask at home you could borrow… if you do something for me."

"What, Jason?"

"I need intel."

Tim raises an eyebrow, "so? Go get it yourself."

Jason huffs, "I need intel on the Two Face case you worked on about three years ago."

Tim just stares at him, just  _ looks  _ before he's sighing and brings up his phone. "Sending file Two-Face B-16."

Jason grins, "thank you replacement. Good to know you're useful for something other than passing out in the middle of battle."

Tim gives him a short glare, "the gasmask?"

"Oh, that's at home." He purses his lips, "I think. Gimme a day or two to find it, I'll drop by when I have."

Tim's not about to ask how he got his address, though he does wonder. 

As soon as Tim enters the door to his apartment he can see Damian on his couch, looking displeased as ever.

Tim chuckles nervously, "you don't have to worry, I'm fine. It's actually kind of cute y'know? The worry part? It's cute, yeah." Tim chuckles nervously  _ again. _

"Do not try to distract me with compliments." 

"You sure? Because you look really, really good right now." Tim's only slightly scared for his life as Damian rises from the couch and makes his way toward him. "Makes me wanna shove you up against the wall- like that time after the beta mission? That'd be hot right? We should do that, like right-"

Tim's cut off by Damian hugging him. "You do not understand how mad I am at you right now." Tim takes a little while to hug back, but he does, Damian's grip tightening. "But I am also thankful you are unharmed."

"So… angry sex?"

Damian pulls away from the hug, "no."

Tim coughs, "just thought I should ask, because you do. Look really good I mean."

Damian stares at him, ignoring Tim's nervous attempts at slinking away from the conversation. "What you did tonight was irresponsible. I believe I asked you to tell me  _ before  _ fighting Chlor. I would've been there with you, I would've helped you.

Tim smiles uneasily. "Noted."

Damian sighs then, "I do not know how long you were unconscious for, I only have what the media knows, but I do know that anything could have happened while you were passed out on that roof. The- the Joker could've-"

Tim tenses, he doesn't want to think about that. He doesn't want to think about what the Joker did  _ ever.  _ "No, stop. Listen, nothing happened. Jason found me and dragged me to a safehouse. I'm fine."

Damian's frown grows, "I was more talking about the possibilities. You are a detective, Drake. You should be aware of this, you should be  _ planning." _

Tim groans, "okay, okay, here. We'll make a compromise, I promise to tell you what I'm planning to do, but you're not coming with-" Damian's frown turns into a sour scowl. "Unless it's an emergency, like the first time."

Damian mulls, sighs and thinks some more. "You do not need to carry the world on your shoulders. It is likely someone has a bounty on you and she's just a bounty hunter, it can be ignored."

Tim blinks, who's this guy and what has he done with his boyfriend? "No, it really can't. Also, she doesn't want me dead. Otherwise she wouldn't leave me like that."

Damian thinks, "then it is a game of cat and mouse, do not humor her."

Tim sighs, "Damian, I can't just let it be."

"I do not care. Ask someone else to take care of it, this person is playing around and you are playing right into her game."

Tim bites his lip, "you… may have a point." He sighs. 

Damian smiles at him, "thank you. I cannot stay long, so what do you say we-" Tim's kissing him before he can even complete the sentence. If Damian minds, he's not saying anything.

-

"Tim!" He hears from behind him while he's walking home from having his one in person lecture per week.

He turns around to find Lucy and smiles. "Hi."

She's almost beaming with positive energy. "It's so good to see you again," she gives him a quick hug, "I never got the chance to give you my number before."

Tim smiles easily, "yeah, sure, I mean. I'm not up to much these days," (that's the most obvious lie he's ever told, if you even knew him the tiniest bit) "It'll be nice to properly catch up."

Lucy nods and they exchange numbers. "So what are you studying? Or working in?"

Lucy chuckles, "I'm an economics major."

"In for the big money huh?"

"You know it. I heard realtors made good money and I didn't really have any aspirations. What about you?" She asks as they start walking in the general direction of Tim's apartment.

"Oh, I'm a technology major."

Lucy laughs, elbowing him. "Ever the nerd."

"Heh, yeah, maybe."

They walk in silence for a bit. "You know, I had the biggest crush on you all through college. Even after we broke up."

Tim looks at her, "really?" He'd broken up with her because Damian had kissed him and it didn't feel okay to be with someone when you were trying to figure out your emotions for someone else.

She chuckles, "yeah, you told me once I looked good in a specific outfit and I don't know if you ever noticed, but at least once, maybe twice a week I was walking around in mom jeans and a gray blouse."

Tim hums, "I didn't notice."

She sighs, "I noticed. But it's all well and good now, though, I do still throw on that outfit sometimes before a date."

"Glad to know I had such an impact on you."

"Oh Tim," she stops walking to face him. Tim stops as well, raising confused eyebrows. "You have no clue how much you've impacted me."

Tim freezes for a short bit, whole body going rigid. Before Lucy starts laughing, "wow that sounded wrong."

Tim relaxes, he  _ knew  _ Damian was wrong. Lucy wouldn't flirt with him, she's a good and kindhearted person who'd never even suggest cheating as a possibility. "That, it did."

"I meant it like, a lot of the things you said stuck in my teenage brain for years." She shrugs.

She  _ shrugs,  _ like saying something like that is  _ nothing.  _

"Ugh, you shouldn't listen to 16 year old me."

Lucy chuckles, "I did, but I was 16 then too so," she clicks her tongue.

Tim nods sort of awkwardly. "It was nice catching up but my apartment's right around the corner soo…"

Lucy seems unbothered, "oh? I can't come in for a coffee?"

"See, uh, I think my boyfriend's there right now and we don't get to spend a massive amount of time together."

She frowns, "right, your boyfriend… What was his name again? Darren? Darryl?"

"Damian."

She clicks her tongue, "right, he seemed like quite the character."

"He is."

"Well, I shouldn't be keeping you. If you ever want a break from Darren, just give me a call!" And then she's strutting back across the street and Tim's confused. 

That  _ might've  _ been flirting, but he's not totally sure. He shrugs it off though, hugging Damian as soon as he sees him.

"I missed you."

"I saw you yesterday," Damian says, but he's hugging back so Tim doesn't think much of it.

Later that evening Tim debates with himself, ultimately deciding that maybe Damian is right, maybe he needs to let someone else deal with Chlor. 

He calls Conner, who's more than happy to help and M'gann who'll be tagging along. It's good, he thinks. 

That is until he's called into the Batcave a day later to watch a video of both Superboy and M'gann getting their asses handed to them. It's hard to take out  _ one  _ of them with superpowers, and she's managed both, without any powers.

Then Chlor turns directly to the camera. "Hello Red Robin, how nice of you to join in. You know, this would be so much easier if you just came to see me. Sad that we have to play like this, huh?" She shook her head, "your friends are on the cinema roof, and I have this odd feeling that a fire will be starting soon… hm, how strange." She laughs, "tick tock, the clock is ticking." There's a crackle and then the video turns to static.

"Oh god- M'gann, Superboy are they-?"

"They're fine."

"How did she-"

"That, we don't know. It is possible she carried a small piece of kryptonite on her, but farther than that we haven't gotten."

Tim slams his hands down on the bench, signs and runs his hands through his hair. "What should I do?"

"I would advise you to leave this to the League. We will handle her when the time comes."

Tim turns round, "but this is my battle. It's me she wants, for some sick, twisted, probably horrific thing I can't-"

"Red Robin," Batman almost growls. "Let the League handle it. We will contact you if we're in the need of assistance."

Tim grumbles all the way to his apartment, regrets it, debates on going back so he can complain to Damian, then settles on texting him to come over.

_ Dami: You were here three minutes ago. _

_ Tim: I don't want to go back. Mad _

_ Dami: I am not keen on the walk. _

_ Tim: So drive _

_ Tim: I want to complain about bruce and i wasnt gonna call dick _

There's no text for a minute and Tim drums his fingers against his bedsheets.

_ Dami: I am coming over. _

-

"It's my fucking problem! I should be involved! Not just some extra that  _ might  _ be needed!" Tim yells, irritation bubbling from his stomach up to his head and gives him a headache.

Damian nods, "that does seem… oddly illogical of father." He frowns but that's not unusual. 

Tim claps his hands, "yes! Thank you! I mean, you saw what they did to M'gann and Superboy."

"I did."

"Right, so would it be so hard to  _ include  _ me in  _ my  _ battle?" Tim huffs. "No, no it wouldn't."

Damian pats the spot next to him on the couch and Tim sits down. "Thanks for listening," he says, sighing and stretching his legs.

Damian comes a little closer, his head falling on Tim's shoulder. "You do not need to thank me."

Tim groans, throwing his hands over his face,  _ "fuck,"  _ Damian looks at him curiously. "I still have a page and a half to write on my essay."

Damian's frown deepens, "I do not want to leave." 

Tim sighs, twisting his head to kiss his forehead. Damian's eyes flutter shut as he moves the tiniest bit closer. "Don't leave. I'm gonna try to do my essay," he purses his lips, "you can sleep on my shoulder if you want meanwhile."

Damian snorts, "thank you for the permission." And then he really does fall asleep with his head on Tim's shoulder as Tim writes about the effect Mary Shelly had on the horror genre today. (Riveting, right?)

-

Lucy calls him when he's going over some material for his geography lesson. "Oh thank god," he sighs into the receiver. 

"Strong reaction, but I'm flattered." There's a sound of something boiling in the background, so Tim thinks she's at home, cooking. 

Tim chuckles a little, "it's just ugh, I've been going over African countries for three hours, I needed a break."

Lucy hums, "glad to be of service." There's a small pause, "right, I bet you're wondering why I called," Tim gives a little hum, "I was just… cooking, and it was getting boring and I thought, 'hey, Tim's probably not busy,' so I called."

"What makes you think I'm not busy?"

"Oh please," she laughs, "what hobbies do you even have beside being a nerd?"

That one stung a little, admittedly. Though it's not as if Tim could argue against without saying the whole superhero thing, and while she's an old friend… no. Just, no. "I listen to music, sometimes." He says instead.

Lucy snorts, "oh yeah? What kind?"

Tim's unsure what to answer, "the regular kind? Depends on what I'm doing."

Lucy hums, "seems like a you thing. Bet that boyfriend of yours is into rock. Am I right or am I right?"

Tim stops what he's doing. He… doesn't know? How can you date someone for two years and  _ still  _ not know what kind of music they listen to? Or even just one song? "Uh," is what comes out of his mouth, "you're probably right."

Lucy sighs, "men that like rock can't be trusted. Trust me, I went out with this guy who only listened to the stuff and turns out he was dealing coke." 

"I don't think you can say that everyone that likes rock is a drug dealer." Jason listens almost exclusively to the stuff and- wait, nevermind. Jason did have a short drug period. Forget everything. 

Lucy laughs, "of course not, I'm just saying that they can't be trusted."

-

_ Tim: What music do you like? _

_ Dami: I never really listen to music. _

_ Tim: Answer the question dumbass. _

_ Dami: I guess a pop-rock-ish blend?  _

_ Tim: Cool. I like pretty much everything _

_ Dami: Good to know (??) _

_Tim: Thanks_

_ Tim: Love you <3 _

_ Dami: I Love you too <3 (?) _

-

"We were almost able to catch her, but then she drank some sort of potion and phased through the floor and disappeared." 

Tim wants to scream with frustration, how can the Justice League be this incompetent? How can they not catch someone who's just good with potions? Okay, maybe that's a bit mean but Tim has the urge to  _ slap Superman  _ and woah, that is a new one. 

This is when he decides if he wants it done right, he's gonna have to do it himself. Not at this very moment though, because he's mad and frustrated as ever and needs to pour all his energy into homework or training or  _ something.  _

-

He finds Chlor on the roof of an apartment block, oddly enough, Tim knows one of the apartments here is Jason's, though he's almost never there. Speaking of Jason, the gasmask he'd asked for turned out to be clumpy and hard to pull off tricks in, so he had to ditch that idea. Though he's got a mask on, the kind they use in hospitals for the sick patients, with the little round knob with holes? That one. It should help slightly. 

The fight goes as it always does, the upper hand switching between them rapidly. Her hair flows in the wind as does Tim's cape, he jumps effortlessly over her, body landing in a crouch. As soon as he stands up though, ready to activate the electric mode of his staff, his mask is gone. Tim's confused before he feels a pair of lips against his. The world stops, Tim's mind not catching up to his surroundings, a small sound escapes her.

His eyes widen and he flails around uselessly before turning the electricity on in his staff and frying her. He feels disgusting, like he's cheated or something, and fuck, maybe this does count as cheating? 

He pokes her with his staff again, effectively sending another round of shocks in, just to make sure she's really out, unconscious before frowning down at her. "Say hello to Arkham." He says to her unconscious form.

_His lips feel dirty, itchy._

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! There will be multiple parts, as said, but they may take a bit to make so be patient.  
> I really hope you enjoyed! I appreciate every single comment and all kudos <3


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